


Mabinogi: Avatar of Darkness

by cadaverousGallant



Category: Mabinogi, Mabinogi (Video Game)
Genre: A better version of Shit Art Online, Alternate Universe, Gen, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-04 07:25:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4129621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadaverousGallant/pseuds/cadaverousGallant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the release of new technology, devCAT and Nexon have been working on a way to create a Virtual Reality port of Mabinogi. When the day finally comes, players from all over the world are equipped with Oculus Helmets and sent into the virtual world of Erinn. But, not all good things last forever. The lack of a log-out button leaves the minds of the players trapped inside, with little hope of escaping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reality to Virtual Reality

         "We have exciting news, Mabinogi fans!" The cheerful and excited voice of GM Sabina plays through every players speakers as they all tune in to watch the newest monthly Mabinogi Community Report video, playing live. "Today's finally the day where devCAT and Nexon has launched it's Virtual Reality relocation official update!

         "With the new Oculus Rift technology that's been released over the past couple of years, devCAT has been working on a port to transfer players consciousness and mind INTO the game itself!" GM Sabina explains as videos recorded by numberous players who beta tested the Virtual Reality port play on the screen. The videos show the usual scenery that players are used to; the continents of Uladh and Iria. The towns and cities of Uladh, the sandy region of Connous and Filia, the jungles of Courcle, the grasslands of Rano and Port Qilla, the snowy fields of Physis and Vales, and the volcanos, hot springs, and dragon guarded lake Calida of Zardine, all from Iria. "The update will keep the basic graphics you all know and love, but provide an optimization of these graphics, improving things such as water, atmosphere, grass, etc!"

         As the video plays and GM Sabina continues to explain what players had to look forward to in the update, a young man sits in his room of the empty house in front of his laptop with another window pulled up, typing away on his keyboard in a chat with a friend who he played the original game with.

         V: so did you get the helmet thing  
         S: ye  
         S: did you?  
         V: mhm. it's gonna make my head sweaty probably  
         S: same probably  
         V: when the announcement finishes we should be able to get in the game but for now  
         V: we play the waiting game  
         S: nice................

         He moves the window to the side slightly, allowing him to see more of the video. On the corner of the video was a countdown. He watched it intently, watching each second tick by, inching closer and closer to the servers launch. In the background, GM Sabina talks about how players who already have a Mabinogi account will be able to log into their existing account and take over any of the characters that they have created, allowing them to pick up where they last left off, but in all new optimization.

         S: imagine how merlin's gonna look once you get into the game  
         V: [HEAVY BREATHING]  
         V: DON'T DO THAT YOU'LL GET ME EVEN MORE EXCITED  
         S: FAVE

         Coughing slightly, he closes the window and focuses on the video. GM Sabina says that new skills will be added to the update. Things such as more magic skills for beginner players so they'll have an easier time, several race-exclusive skills, and some Life skills. The new Life skills would probably benefit him in his journey to balance out his stats on his main. He just hopes it's not cooking skills...

         "And without further ado..." GM Sabina closes, stepping to the side as the gameplay video fades out. She gestures towards the clock and smiles bright. "We introduce to you, Nexon and devCAT's loyal fans, the server launching of Mabinogi v.2!"

         S: LET'S DO THE!!!!!!!!!!  
         V: i wonder where we're gonna spawn--  
         S: SABINA SAID ELVES SPAWN IN FILIA HUMANS SPAWN IN TIR GIANTS SPAWN IN VALES  
         V: SWEET I'LL MEET YOU IN FILIA  
         S: I'LL BE NEAR THE DOGS TBH  
         V: NICE OK SEE YA  
         S: BYEEEE : D!!!!

         With an excited smile, he stands up out of his chair, taking the helmet from beside his laptop and moving over towards his bed. Putting the new Oculus helmet on his head, he shuffles it around a bit to make it fit more comfortably. There. Perfect. Finally, he sat down on his matress, sitting himself in a laid down position. He felt the Oculus begin to start up, whirring loud in his ears. Soon, he began to feel like... he was leaving his body. This must be it. He must be entering the game. Closing his eyes, he let himself be transported into the virtual world of Erinn.

~

         Everything was white, except for the mini log-in box, with a username and password box, displayed in front of him. He "wrote" in his log-in information, reaching out a hand toward the "log-in" button.

         As he pressed it, the log-in box disappeared, de-materializing upward into strands of data.

"Close your eyes"

         A sweet, quiet voice rings in his ears. He feels compelled to listen to it. He nods to himself, slowly closing his eyes for a few moments. He begins to feel a cool, gentle breeze blowing from beside him. He begins to feel the overwhelming urge to reach up and hold onto something on his head...

"Open your eyes"

         And he does. Upon opening his eyes,he's greeted with a "new" scene. He stood on a white platform in the shape of the game's logo, a Celtic Endless Knot. The sky was a light purple mixed in with light orange and white. Stars scattered the sky, owls flying in all directions overhead. Arches reaching towards the sky were placed on four sides of the logo shaped platform, curving forward and connecting with one another. He knew this place all too well.

         He was in the Soul Stream.

         In the middle of the white platform stood a young lady with long white hair pulled into pigtails. She was dressed in a black dress, bright blue eyes meeting with his. She smiled at him softly.

         "Hello." She spoke, her voice the same as the one he heard earlier. Wait... She was speaking in a REAL voice. A living persons voice, not some computer generated voice. That was a nice surprise. "You remember me, right?"

         He stood there, mouth agape, trying to process everything that was going on in front of him. The only words that he could thing were "awesome... awesome... awesome..." repeated over and over again.

         "Veoxys?" The lady called to him, tilting her head slightly, a look of concern on her face. "Is everything alright?"

         He flinched. Hearing his characters name spoken outloud by anyone but himself and his friends was... well, shocking nonetheless. Letting out a nervous laugh, he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

         "Yes, I'm fine." He replied finally, his ACTUAL voice coming from his mouth. He was stunned for a second by that. This game is just full of surprises, isn't it? "I remember you, Nao."

         The lady, Nao, smiles brightly.

         "Great!" Nao beams, interlacing her hands together in front of her. "Would you like to talk about anything before I send you to Erinn? Or perhaps you would like to rebirth?"

         He ponders for a moment.

         "Could I see what I look like?" He asks Nao, smile still on his face.

         "Of course." She answers, point her hand down at the ground. She draws a line upwards with a finger, a mirror materializing in front of him as he draws upward. "Have a look."

         In front of him, reflecting in the mirror, was a pale skinned elf with droopy ears, golden eyes, and purple markings that began behind his ears and wrapped and ended at his cheeks. Black messy hair sat upon his head, as well as a dark grey winged wizard hat with white wings. He was dressed in a faded brown overcoat that the was called the "Selina Half Jacket Coat" in the games database. Beneath the coat, he wore a orange sleeveless jumpsuit. A red fancy-like shirt poked out from under the jumpsuit and coat, a white brooch in the center. He wears chained armor gloves, a mini arm shield strapped around his left arm. For shoes, it was grey Starlet Circle boots that he had bought along with the rest of Starlet's male counterpart outfit.

         He couldn't believe that he was in the body of his character.

         He couldn't believe he was Veoxys.

         He couldn't believe this was real.

         "Is there anything else you need before you go?" Nao piped in, snapping him, now Veoxys, out of his shocked state.

         "Ah, no, I'm fine." He answers. The mirror de-materializes, returning to the atmosphere in the form of small white lights. Nao nods before walking closer to him. She takes his hands in hers, placing a square-like stone in one of his hands.

         "Please," She whispers. "You will need these. I've returned your previously bought Stones to your inventory. Take these with you. Use them only when necessary, okay?"  
Veoxys nods, a slightly confused expression rising to his face. She "returned" them? That would imply they were TAKEN from his inventory... Eh, whatever. He thought nothing of it.

         "Now then," Nao begins, meeting eyes with Veoxys. "I'll be sending you to Erinn now. I hope you enjoy your time there."

         She releases his hands and steps back, extending an arm out in front of her. She closes her eyes, a light beginning to surround her hand. Veoxys' body began to feel warm, like he was wrapped in blanket taken straight from the drier machine back home. In the back of his head, something was telling him to shut his eyes.  
He did just that as he felt his body dematerializing, the transportation process into Erinn beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh i renamed the fic to Avatar of Darkness cuz i decided that's what i would name the fic's exclusive Generation B)))
> 
> i'm on summer break so i should be updating pretty often *w*  
> if anyone cares that is--
> 
> also here's a reference of Veo so ya'll have a better idea of him: http://sta.sh/01c86xq2k2kw (that's an old ref i should probably update it. he doesn't wear the bell fox gloves anymore tho)


	2. The Naive Mage

         With the weight of his body becoming more and more apparent with each second, Veoxys opens his eyes slowly, the desert town of Filia coming into his vision. As soon as his body fully materialized and he was able to move, he took a quick look around of the area. He was standing in front of a house that sat at the top of the hill; the house that belonged to the Chief of the Elven Village, Castanea. There were players, veterans and newbies, running to and fro, exploring the area in a new light.

          _While I'm here_ , He thinks to himself. _I should probably check if I have any new quests. GM Sabina mentioned in the update video that there would be a new questline available._

  
         But, the question now was, how do you open the quest menu in this version of the game? Did the update video talk about the new controls? He probably should've listened to the video more instead of just staring at the countdown...

  
          _Okay... let's try this. Maybe if I think REEEEEALLY hard, it'll open._ Veoxys closes his eyes tightly, as well as his fists, emitting a noise that sounded like the noise a person makes when they're trying to force out a fart. He thought desperately of the quest menu, with different tabs for each story chapter, events, and normal quests. A few seconds pass and he begins to realize that there's no way that this would work, and releases a held in breath.

  
         He could ask one of the players, but that would require communication with strangers, and he's not about that life. Maybe he could... secretly watch someone else do the thing? Veoxys stood around awkwardly, praying he would figure it out while looking around and shuffling like a wallflower at some high school party.

  
         That was when his prayers were seemingly answered.

  
         "Hello there," A sweet, melodic voice sounded from behind Veoxys. He spun around, turning to face the person calling to him. He was greeted by a female elf much taller than him. So much taller that he actually had to look up at her. Her shoulder length hair was silvery white, her bangs hanging above her pink colored eyes. Pinned in her hair on either sides of her head were Swan Lake Hairpieces, making it look like she had wings sprouting from her head. She wore a short white waist jacket with a black tanktop underneath, the lining decorated with flowers. A white skirt train hangs from her waist, connected to a dark grey skirt underneath with a white belt. For shoes, she wore white ballet shoes, white ribbons coiling around her legs until just below the knee. She was beautiful. "You... seem lost. Is there any way I can help you out?"

  
         "Uhhh..." Veoxys clears his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, I don't know how to open up the quest menu..."

  
         The girl smiled and laughed. "Oh, that's simple." She reaches her hand forward. "Start by doing this."

  
         He nods, following her instruction. He reaches his own hand forward, waiting for the next step.

  
         "Extend your index finger," she continues, extending her index finger. "And draw a Q in the air."

  
         She demonstrates for him, drawing a Q in the space in front of her. A semi-transparent window appears in front of her, dropping down a list of quests she has yet to complete.

  
         "Now, you try." The girl incourages him. He nods again, following the last 2 steps and drawing a Q in the air. Finally, the quest log displays for him. "There you go! To open the rest of the tabs, just draw the letter that was used for the hotkeys pre-update. M opening the map, I opening your inventory, Z opening your skills, C opening your character information, stuff like that!"

           
         "Ahhh, thank you." Veoxys smiles, laughing nervously. "I probably would've been stuck on that forever."

  
         "You're very welcome." She takes the sides of her skirt trail in between two fingers and curtsies. "If you ever need anymore help, feel free to message me. By the way, I'm Faeiiry. But, you can call me Fae if you'd like."

  
         She extends her hand out to him, offering him a handshake.

  
         "I'm Veoxys, but you can call me Veo." He takes her hand in his, thanking her once again.

           
         "Nice to meet you, Veo." Fae says. The two let go of each others hands, stepping away from each other slightly. "I would stick around to help you out, but I see that you are not new to this game."

  
         "Yeah, I've already got the hang of things here, no worries." Veo gives her a thumbs up, gaining him a giggle from Fae.

  
         "I'll rest easy, then." She responds, turning on her heels. "Well, exploration awaits me. I'll part ways with you here."

  
         "See you around, Fae." Veo waves to her as she takes off into the distance. As she runs, she waves back at him. That wasn't a completely horrible interaction like he had thought it would be. Not only did he make a friend, he also figured out how to open windows! Thank god.

  
         Looking over the list of quests he had, switching through each tab to see if there was anything new. All the quest tabs were the same, except under the Divine Knights tab, there was a new quest titled "Resurrection". That was the only new thing he saw. Veo poked the quest box, bringing up the quest info.

  
         It's current objective was "Wait for orders", which didn't make much sense. Maybe it meant to wait for another owl to drop off a quest for the players?

  
         Well, that aside, even if there WERE quest objectives that he could do currently, they had to wait. He's kept a friend of his waiting long enough. She's probably getting impatient.

  
         Running towards the in-ground staircase, he took a leap into the air, skipping the stairs entirely. Upon landing, he stumbles, the bottoms of his feet aching from the impact of the jump. He breaks out into a sprint, feet sinking into the sand and leaving dirt clouds in his wake. Passing by player after player, accidentally knocking into some on his way, he hurried past the Healers House, and to the outskirts of the elf village; to the animal fields.

  
         As soon as he exits the village and his feet hit the grass, he sees her. Near a group of dog was a tan skinned elf girl with blonde hair pulled into twin braids resting over her shoulders. She was dressed in a pure white Terra Gothic Dress, with white leggings and lace up light pink boots. A white rose sits delicately in her hair. She was hugging one of the dogs, rubbing her face against its fur. He skids to a halt.

  
         "I can finally hug a dog in virtual reality..." Veo hears her say as the dog shakes away from her and trots over to the other dogs. She reaches out towards it, a look of defeat on her face. "Aww, wait come back--"

  
         Her voice falters, her ice blue eyes finally spotting Veo standing feet away from her. The two stare into each others eyes for a few moments, and before long, she finally stands up, dusting herself off, and sprinting full speed towards Veo. He barely has time to react before he's launched backwards, the elf girl wrapping her arms around the back of his neck, hugging him tightly. When he hits the ground, he skids, pushing torrents of sand out on either side of him.

  
         "I can finally hug a Veo in virtual reality..." The girl mumbles into his chest, her voice shaking with excitement and happiness. She sniffles, and Veo realizes his coat is starting to feel damp. "T-this is really gay..."

  
         "I can finally hug a Seri in virtual reality." Veo laughs, patting the back of her head before returning her hug. Tears of his own begin to prick the edges of his eyes. The two of them had only ever known each other through the internet, never getting to meet up with each other in real life, making this moment much more special. Even if it wasn't real life, it was still their consciousness and mind in the bodies of their characters. It was as if they were actually hugging. "This game has it all."

         The girl, named Seri, sits up and moves off of Veo, wiping her tears on her sleeves.

  
         "You can hug dogs, Veos, and Seris." Seri mumbles. She slams her fists on the ground. "This is the kind of content we need."

  
         Veo sits up, laughing as tears threaten to burst from his eyes full force at any moment. Scooching forward a little, he rests his head on Seri's shoulder, bringing her back into a hug. Moments later, he breaks out into sobs, mumbling incoherently about how he couldn't believe that this was real, and how happy he was. Sappy stuff like that. He was hugging a close friend he never thought he would get the chance to hug. To him, this was a dream come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhhhhhhhh a part of me isn't satisfied with how this chapter went but i really wanted to introduce seri and get the plot moving u feel  
> i promise next chapter will get things moving again! unu;;
> 
> seri is my friend's mabi character and she's also the one friend i ever play with =w=b  
> im so glad i got her roped into this game. now we can suffer together (mwahahaha)
> 
> also fae is one of my other characters that i have on my account. she's a diva (but in this fic, people who have ace talents will be called "members of the ____ circle" so in this case fae is a member of the starlet circle) and wears starlet's outfit, which i tried desperately to describe decently |D


	3. The Hard Truth

 

  
         It felt good to interact with Seri face to face, though it was a little awkward at points. Maybe that was because Veo was horrible at speaking, or maybe it was because the two couldn't stop smiling. For 20 minutes straight. The conversations they usually had were... hard to explain. In fact, Veo didn't even know how to describe it in words properly. There was screaming. Definitely a lot of that. Also memes. Can't forget the memes. Though, they couldn't be meme-loving-fricks and send each other random pictures from the internet while they were in game like this. Which is very unfortunate.  
  
         From the time when they met up in this game session to the present, they discussed a plethora of things; things that weren't in their usual drabble. They mainly talked about the game they were now experiencing in virtual reality. They wondered how the skills would work, how to go about using the inventory with the new mechanics, how the pet and mount system would work, and they even wondered about the Moon Gates and Mana Tunnels that were scattered all across the world of Erinn. How would it feel to use them? How did they work? They would have to figure that out soon.   
  
         Seri and Veo took it upon themselves to answer these questions themselves. Upon pulling up their inventories by drawing an 'I' in the space in front of them, a screen was pulled up, displaying all of their items and equipment. The inventory worked like a grab-box of sorts; you reach in and pull out the thing you want from your inventory, and there you go. They also found out that switching equipment was like changing your clothes in the real world. All that left was practicing their skills and using the Moon Gates and Mana Tunnels. They chose to save the Gates/Tunnels for later and work on figuring out their skills.   
  
         Veo already knew the basics of sword fighting, but Seri was another case. She had to figure out how to use magic. Though he was a mage once, Veo wasn't wise at all. He couldn't give Seri any advice in this situation, especially since in the world they actually live in, magic doesn't exist. The two sat in the town square of the desert town of Filia, hanging around by that "weird glowy orb thing", as Veo described it, in the center of the square. On the edge of the center platform, they sat with their legs hanging off the edge, thinking wildly of how to go along with doing this.  
  
         "Maybe I just..." Seri spoke up, eyes wandering the sky above them. "Maybe I just need to think. And concentrate."  
  
         "Good luck with that." Veo responded, slouching forward with his elbows on his knees, supporting his chin with his hands. Seri shot him an offended look. Right about now, if they were typing to each other, this interaction would go something like: "WOW!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "FAVE".   
  
         "Wow!" Seri scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing. "Rude. But true. Mages are usually people who have magic naturally, and magic requires your mind to be cleared of all thoughts that aren't of magic. So maybe if I--"  
  
         "Cleanse your mind of all sins." Veo interrupted, remaining poker-faced until a few seconds passed. He then proceeded to laugh at his own joke.   
  
         "I'm not a sinful child like you are, Veo." Seri said as Veo continued to laugh. As his laughter died down, he took a deep breath and let out a sigh.  
  
         "And that's why I was doomed from the very start as a mage." Veo added, wiping a small tear from his eye. There was a silence between the two for a while. As Veo went to open his mouth to say something, he looks over at Seri, who had her eyes closed now. She looked as if she was trying to concentrate with all her might. If Veo interrupted her now, he'd feel like an ass.  
  
         More time ticked by, and no words were exchanged between the two. Veo continued to watch Seri as she thought desperately of, most likely, magic related things. She slowly reached her hand forward , her eyebrows scrunched together. After a few seconds, a white light appeared in front of her, circling slowly around her body. Veo stared at it for a few moments in shock before reaching towards the white light. As his hand got closer, it began to feel cold. Pulling his hand back, he realized what Seri just created.  
  
         An Icebolt. One of the standard forms of magic, and Seri's go-to skill in battle.  
  
         Seri opened her eyes, looking down at the Icebolt she had cast. Her facial expression went from flat to excited in mere moments.   
  
         "Baby's first Icebolt." Veo gasped. "And I didn't even get it on camera..."  
  
         "I did it!" Seri exclaimed, jumping to her feet in a fit of excitement. "I did it! I did it! Veo, did you see that?! Did you see me do the thing?!"  
  
         "Yeah, I saw!" Veo smiled at her, noticing that her entire body is shaking with excitement. "Proud of you."  
  
         "I wonder if my skill rank carried over!" She continued on. "I just got rank 2 Icebolt, so I really hope."  
  
         "It'd be sucky if they reset our skills..." Veo added, crossing his arms. "After all the hard work I did on all those skills, I would cry. I have rank 1's on a bunch of skills--"  
  
         Veo was interrupted by the sound of birds cawing. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots two white owls flying towards him and Seri, scrolls in their claws. Could this be a new quest? Maybe the waiting time for that new Divine Knights quest is finally over! The owls drop the scrolls down to the two elves as they fly over their heads. Unexpectedly, the scrolls were solid objects, and landed on Seri and Veo's heads. It didn't hurt much, but it was kinda shocking.  
  
         Immediately, the two opened the scroll, and as they did, a Wing of the Goddess fell out. Attached to the bottom of it was a note saying the name of the place it would warp them to; Emain Macha. Emain Macha is one of the more prettier towns on the other continent, Uladh. It was also home to a secret group that protected all of Erinn, the Alban Knights. Maybe that's where it would warp them to?  
  
         Veo examined the scrolls contents. A fully black portrait of an unknown NPC was displayed at the left corner of the scroll, followed by the words: "It is time you learn the cruel truth, Milletian." Well, that's uplifting. His eyes wandered over to the quest objectives. They read: "Use the Wing of the Goddess and wait for the call."   
  
         The call? Could this get any more vague? No matter. Seri and Veo exchanged looks, nodding in silent agreement and using the item given to them. Slowly, Veo felt his entire body disappear into nothing but strands of data yet again.  
  


~

  
         After what was maybe a few seconds, Seri and Veo arrived in the beautiful lake-side town of Emain Macha. Best known for having the second largest Cathedral in all of Uladh, Emain Macha was long ruled by it's lord, Rian, who had "died" at the end of the second generation storyline, Paladin.  
  
         The two spawned outside of the towns dock-based restaurant. Looking around a bit, they notice a large number of other players near the town square, more poofing in with every second that ticks by.   
  
         "That's a disturbing amount of people." Veo said, shuffling uncomfortably as more players flooded in. "Can we not go over there?"  
  
         Seri gave him a nod in response. The less crowds he had to deal with, the better. Even if they ARE a bunch of anime characters. They wordlessly decide to sit against the black metal fence that separated the road from the lake. Now, all they could do is wait around for whatever "the call" is.  
  


~

"Hello, Milletians." 

  
         As soon as the disembodied voice echoed throughout Emain Macha, all conversation died down. Veo and Seri looked at each at each other for a few seconds before looking away to search the area around them. Their eyes land on the other players in the town square, who were all looking around just as confused as they are. The entire town was now dead silent. A type of silent that was enough to shake a person to their very core. Was this "the call" the quest objectives mentioned?  
  


"Though you do not know me, I know much about you."

  
         Who is this that's speaking? Veo didn't have a clue. Maybe it was an NPC? It would make sense if it was, considering the whole "you don't know me but I know you" thing. NPC's all over Erinn were bound to know the Milletians that saved their world more times than they could count.  
  


"I know all there is to know about your efforts to save and protect Erinn. I thank you for your hard work."

  
         Finally, some recognition around here! NPC's usually treat the Milletians like crap even after all they've done to help them. They even treated them as if they were demons for a while.   
  


"Though, all of your hard work may be naught."

  
         Wow, thanks for the words of reassurance, dude. What did they mean by that, though? Sure, Erinn's always got something bad going on somewhere, but to suddenly render everything the Milletians have done useless? What's gonna happen?  
  


"Some of you, I'm afraid, are doomed to die here." 

  
         Veo could hear quiet conversations between the players at the square begin to pick up again. They were beginning to become nervous, and with good reason. Upon hearing the words "doomed to die", both Veo  _and_  Seri grew nervous as well. Die? Surely, he didn't mean die for real!   
  
         ...Right?  
  


"Prior to your entrance, you Milletians were hollow; nothing but an artificial soul inside of a shell. Now that your bodies have living souls trapped inside of them, you are no longer immortal."

  
         Huh? Was this guy being serious? Living souls trapped inside of... Wait a second. Does he mean...? The crowd began to turn restless, people shouting questions that were only ignored by the voice speaking to them. Anxiety swept through the crowd like a plague. It was apparent to Veo that Seri was growing more and more scared with each word that is said. Her entire body was shaking and she kept muttering something under her breath. She looked as if she were about to cry. It was only then that Veo realized that he was starting to shake, too. Maybe the news was finally starting to sink in?  
  
         A shriek sounded amidst the crowd of players. "I'm not dealing with this shit, I'm logging out!" The player shouted, attempting to pull up the options bar as fast as they could. Upon pressing the log out button... nothing happened. "Huh?! Why am I still here?!"  
  


"I'm afraid you cannot leave, Milletian."

  
         With that, the crowd went crazy. It was hard to distinguish what they were all screaming. Veo was sure he heard profanities off and on, but so many players were yelling questions and the like at the voice, only to gain a taunting chuckle in response. He heard something drop beside him. He turned his head, looking down at the girl who has fallen to her knees. Seri was covering her ears with her hands, shaking her head vigorously while crying out "No, no, no, this can't be true! This can't be real!".   
  
         Reflexively, Veo dropped down beside the crying girl, pulling her into an awkward hug as an attempt to console her. He patted her back with shaking hands.   
  


"I'm afraid none of you can leave."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> finally the plots picking up B)  
> next chapter'll get the Avatar of Darkness questline started and it'll also introduce an important character


End file.
